Convergence
by The Sleeping Library
Summary: What happened to Sherry during the Merge? And just what was her first meeting with Tyr like? A short story focusing on my little OC family's beginning. Takes place before the events of Light of the Moon (obviously)


Convergence

-Torn-

"Sherry~!" A high pitched, yet boyish voice called. "Big Sis~!"

Sherry Spice, older daughter of Ginger and Vanilla Spice, laughed softly to herself as she looked up from her book. She paused a moment to push pink hair away from her face as her little brother, Pepper Spice, came running over to her, his favorite bear clutched in his little forearms. "What is it, Pep?" She asked, smiling. She was a little upset for being interrupted from her reading, but she would always go out of her way to make time for her adorable little brother. His short dark red and black hair was wild and messy, as it always was.

"I smelled cinnamon buns!" Pepper said excitedly. "Are you making some?"

"They're baking right now," Sherry told him with a playful ruffle of his hair. "They should be done soon."

"Can I have the first one?"

"You always get the first one, Pep," A deeper voice said from behind Sherry. She looked up to find their father, Ginger, standing over them. The patriarch of the Spice family was tall, well built, and had a friendly face behind all that messy gray hair. His fur was a dapple brown, a color his son shared. He grinned. "Your sister always gives it to you."

"He does always ask, dear," Vanilla Spice said from the kitchen. She smiled from behind her aptly white colored hair. She was busy moving about the dishes in the kitchen with the help of her magic. As the only unicorn in the family, Sherry was always amazed by her mother's easy manipulation of all the objects in the kitchen. The yellow unicorn moved with a grace Sherry wished she could match. Unfortunately for her, she had inherited her father's Earth Pony genes, like her brother. Along with a light brown color coat. But she didn't mind. Baking was still her favorite thing, magic or not. She even had the Cutie Mark to prove it: twin cinnamon sticks crossed.

"One day I'll ask first," The older stallion claimed, nuzzling his son affectionately. The little colt giggled at the attention.

"They all taste the same, dad," Sherry said, getting up onto all four feet and going into the kitchen. She chuckled. "I don't know why you and dad make such a big deal out of it."

Ginger sat back on his haunches. "Hey, it's the principle of the thing."

A timer on the counter dinged, and Sherry cut it off with one hoof. She sat back momentarily to tie her hair back away from her face before opening the oven. Using her mouth, she deftly extracted the tray full of steaming cinnamon buns and set it on the counter. She took a deep sniff. "They're done," She said with an appreciative smile.

"Yay!" Pepper came galloping into the kitchen, almost bumping into his sister before Vanilla used her magic to catch him.

"Calm down, mister," She admonished, smiling.

"Sorry," He said with an embarrassed grin.

Sherry giggled. "Oh Pepper. You really got to—"

She didn't get to finish her sentence, as suddenly the ground shook, the lights went out, and suddenly they were in complete darkness. Pepper began to cry. Vanilla immediately began to soothe her young son. "It's alright, Pep. It's okay. The lights just went out."

There was a soft blue-green glow as Sherry's mother lit up her horn to illuminate the kitchen. Pepper was glued to his mother's side, while Ginger was next to Sherry, looking around confused. "What do you think happened?"

"Whatever it was, it passed," Vanilla said. She lifted a hoof to Sherry's cheek. "You alright, baby?"

Sherry nodded slowly. "I'm… okay. I'm just a little spooked is all."

"Was it an earthquake?" Pepper asked, looking over at his dad. Ginger frowned at that.

"Well, the ground shook, so I'd have thought that was the case, but… I've experienced earthquakes. That didn't feel like one."

"So what do you think it was, dad?" Sherry asked. Her father comfortingly put a hoof on her shoulder. Her dad always took things in stride, always was a comforting presence whenever things got wild or crazy.

"I don't know, sweetie. But whatever it was, it's over."

"I'm scared mommy," Pepper said.

Vanilla smiled down at him. "It's alright baby. We're all okay."

"Well," Ginger spoke up, a slow grin growing on his face. "While we're waiting, why don't we eat some of your sister's cinnamon buns?"

"I get the first one!" Pepper claimed, his earlier panic gone. He still kept his spot next to his mother, however. His father, using Vanilla's light to guide him, made his way to where the tray of cinnamon buns was. He lifted a hoof to pick one up—

"What?" He mumbled softly as his foreleg vanished from the elbow joint down. Blood wept from the open wound, the pressure splattering droplets over the tray of baked goods. Sherry stared in horror as her mother began to scream.

"Gin!" She cried, right before the light on her horn winked out. A moment later, her cry was cut short. In a moment, there was no sound except for Pepper's crying. Something heavy fell against Sherry's side, and she pushed it off, trying to find her brother in the darkness. Suddenly, the room lit up with orange light as a fire broke out outside. The sight that greeted her almost made her vomit. Her parents were collapsed on the floor in widening pools of blood, pieces of them simply… _missing_. It was no question they were dead, but the sheer fact that her parents were dead… It hit her then, and she shoved her head into the sink to throw up. After a few solid minutes, it abated enough to let her sit back on her haunches.

"Dear Celestia…" She whispered, trying her hardest not to cry. "…Pepper? Pep, where are you?"

"O-over here…" Pepper was in a nearby corner, sobbing. Sherry went over to him quickly and wrapped her forelegs around him.

"It's okay, Pep, we're going to be okay…"

"But Mommy and Daddy…"

There were screams outside. "We… we need to go, Pepper…" Sherry managed to say. She was barely keeping it together, and if she couldn't calm down her little brother, she'd lose it.

"But Mommy and Daddy…!" Pepper complained further. Sherry held him out at a distance.

"Pepper, we can't stay here!" She said, almost pleading. "We have to leave, now!"

Dragging the crying Pepper along behind her, Sherry quickly got outside. What she saw was almost as terrifying as her parents dying. Ponyville was in chaos, citizens fleeing in all directions and fires breaking out. As she watched, some ponies simply vanished, while others were subjected to losing parts of their bodies much like Ginger and Vanilla. Even as she watched, one cobalt maned mare lost the entire middle section of her body and fell to the ground. Sherry watched in horror as she cried out for help. No one did, and the poor mare bled to death. Sherry covered her brother's eyes and kept leading him through the chaos. As she pushed aside an overturned cart, she heard a voice above her call out.

"Everypony stay calm!" It was Rainbow Dash, one of the famous Elements of Harmony. The rainbow haired blue Pegasus was flying over the town, directing ponies to safety. The other members of the weather patrol were doing the same, doing their best to keep everyone calm. "We're going to get you to safety, don't worry!"

"Help!" Sherry tried to call out, but her throat was still burning from earlier. Tears were beginning to trickle down from her eyes as she tried to get the Pegasus's attention. "Please, help us!"

"Come on, move it ponies!" Rainbow snapped, not hearing Sherry cry out. "We need to—"

She was cut off by a sudden flare of violet light. Sherry looked over to see Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship and Element of Magic, appear down the road. The violet maned Alicorn looked around at the town in horror. "What is going on!?" She demanded.

"I'm trying to figure that out myself, egghead," Rainbow said gruffly, flying down to her friend. "You wouldn't happen to know anything, would ya?"

"No! Unless…"

"What, you think it was Discord?"

"No. This is too… horrifying. Even he wouldn't try to kill innocent ponies."

"Then who's doing this?" Rainbow looked around. "Who's responsible for all of this!?"

"Calm down, Rainbow Dash!" Twilight snapped, her own panic and fear showing. Rainbow backed up a step, landing softly on the ground.

"…Sorry."

Twilight put a hoof to her forehead, eyes closed tightly. "I know, I know. I just came from Sweet Apple Acres, and Applebloom's been taken—"

"TAKEN?" Rainbow blurted out, confused.

"Vanished, taken, poofed out of existence, I don't know!" Twilight snapped back. "All I know is, ponies or just _parts_ of ponies are just vanishing, and Applebloom is gone!"

"Dear Celestia… Is Applejack okay?"

"…I don't know. The only ones on the farm were Big Mac and Granny Smith."

"You don't think…!"

"I don't know," Twilight repeated firmly. "I wish I did, but I don't."

"Well, we need to get these ponies somewhere safe," Rainbow concluded, turning away.

Twilight was quiet for a long minute. "I don't think anywhere is safe," She said finally.

"…What?"

"You've seen it. Ponies are just _vanishing_ , Rainbow Dash. From any place, inside, outside, nothing is stopping it!" Twilight stared down at the ground. "…My magic… I can't do anything. I can't do ANYTHING!"

"We still try!" Rainbow said, turning back. "We can't just—" She froze on the spot. Twilight was gone. "NO!"

"Rainbow!" A pink Pegasus flew over. "Whatever is doing this we can't stop! What do we do?"

"We need the Princesses!" Another Pegasus called.

Rainbow Dash was silent. For all the years Sherry had seen the blue Pegasus around town, never had she seen her so… forlorn. Rainbow looked up at the Pegasii surrounding her, looking to her for orders, for leadership. "Just…" She began weakly, before her usual bravado filled her voice. "We keep as many ponies safe as possible. We can't do anything about them vanishing, but we can sure as heck keep anything from happening to the rest!"

"Yeah!"

"That's the Element of Loyalty for you!"

Rainbow Dash grinned. "Let's go ponies!" She cried, and the Pegasii flew off in all directions. None of them saw their leader vanish like dust in the wind behind them.

"Please…!" Sherry whispered, watching two of the Elements of Harmony disappear as if they had never existed. She didn't know who she was speaking to, but she was praying to somepony to save her and her brother.

"I'm scared, big sis," Pepper said quietly, sniffling. "I want to go home…"

"Pepper, we…" She trailed off, feeling a tug on her body. She looked around, thinking somepony had touched her. But the only pony near her was her brother. He looked up at her, tears in his eyes.

"What's wrong, big sis?"

"It's nothing, just—

She didn't have a chance to speak, before her brother screamed. She screamed in response, before she found herself face down in the dirt. But what confused her at first was not the fact that she was eating dirt currently, but the fact that the dirt was strange.

There was no magic in it.

She pushed herself up on her hands—she looked down in terror. "…What…what are these?" She held up her hands to her face, finding herself looking at the strange appendages with both confusion and wonder. Stories of humans had been in the town library, but never had she seen—

"Big sis…"

She whipped her head around, hair momentarily covering her face. She hurriedly pushed herself to her legs, staggering a bit as she tried to quickly learn how to walk on two legs. She was cold. There was no fur on her body, and she had nothing to cover herself. She was in the middle of a ripped apart forest, with nearby trees torn apart and missing pieces. "Whatever happened to Ponyville happened here…" She spoke aloud. It was eerily quiet.

"Big sis!" Pepper called again, a little weaker. Sherry shook off her wonder at this new world and went off to find her brother, tripping and falling all along the way.

"Pepper!" She cried out. "Where are you!?"

After scraping up her new knees repeatedly, she finally found him. He, like her, had been transformed into a human, the only thing that let her know it was him was the shock of messy red-and-black hair on his head. But as her eyes travelled along his new body, she felt her heart shoot into her throat. There was nothing of Pepper from the waist down except a pool of blood. His eyes found her then, and a weak smile formed on his face. "…Big sis… you found me."

"Oh dear Celestia," Sherry whispered, moving beside him and lifting his head into her lap. "Pepper…"

"I'm… so cold, big sis…"

"I know, Pep. I know…" She could feel the tears growing, and she didn't try to hold them back. She was about to lose her little brother, and there was nothing that she could do to stop it. Even if she was a unicorn, she couldn't heal, and there would be nothing she could do about a wound like this. "It's going to be okay, alright? You're going to be okay, Pep…"

"I want… I wanna see Mommy and Daddy again…"

Sherry felt the tears falling, and she forced herself to smile. "Don't worry little brother. You'll… you'll see them soon."

"I will?" Hope brightened Pepper's eyes for a moment.

"Yeah, you will."

"I'm… happy." Pepper managed to smile weakly for just a moment before the gentle, yet ragged rhythm of his breathing ceased. Sherry didn't bother shaking him to wake him up. She didn't bother sobbing loudly. She didn't bother doing any of those things. Instead, she simply buried her face into his unmoving chest and let all the tears flow out in complete, total silence.

-Mended-

Sherry hated the orphanage. It wasn't because it was a dingy, hastily appropriated building that was in bad repair full of children orphaned by the Merge. It was because for the past two months, she had been reminded almost daily that she had lost everyone she had ever mattered to her. So she kept to herself, doing what she was told, when she was told, and ignoring any of the inquisitive humans that approached Miss Flora, the Equestrian woman in charge of the orphanage. The other children would rush up to be seen, hoping to be adopted. Sherry would always keep doing whatever she was doing, not bothering to make a spectacle of herself.

But today was different.

When the door to the orphanage opened, and the kids did their usual antics, Sherry didn't pay them any mind. She kept reading her book, one of the few things she still enjoyed doing. Then the commotion began to die down, and Sherry felt a shiver run down her back. She looked up as a shadow fell over her. Standing not a foot away from her was a tall, dark skinned man with his black hair braided and tied into a pony tail near the base of his neck. His silver eyes were regarding her with a strange curiosity. She swallowed heavily, remembering the lesson in addressing people older than you that her mother had drilled into her. "…Yes?"

"What's your name?" The man asked, his voice a gentle tenor. He had asked softly, almost as if he wanted this conversation to be between him and her alone.

She almost found herself unable to speak. When she finally did, it was a quiet whisper. "…Sherry Spice."

The man smiled. It was a warm smile, and it seemed an easy gesture for the man. "Hello Sherry. My name is Tyr."

"…Hello Tyr."

"I have a question for you, if you don't mind me asking."

"Yes?"

"Would you like to come home with me?"

Miss Flora, behind the man, made a little gasp of surprise. Even Sherry seemed a bit caught off guard, as she thought no one coming in would ever notice her. Well, not so much notice her, as she had bright pink hair. But this man had come over to her specifically, and spoke to her. As she looked into his eyes, she could see a similar pain to her own hidden in them. A kindred soul, one would say. With her apparent silence, the man smiled and scratched at his head. "Only if you want to. I'm not forcing you."

"I'll go," Sherry said without hesitation.

She really hated the orphanage.

Tyr's home was old, but still obviously well cared for and cozy. There were a few pictures of a younger version of Tyr and an older man on the mantle near a large television. Sherry followed the tall man inside the house, eyes darting around. She jumped a little when he spoke up. "Sherry?"

"Y-yes sir!?" Her exclamation got a little chuckle from him.

"You can just call me Tyr, if you like," Tyr told her, turning around. He had a smile on her face, one that instantly calmed the young girl down.

"Um… okay, Tyr."

He nodded. "I have a room ready, if you want to get situated. We can get you some more clothes tomorrow. For now I guess you'll have to wear something of mine until then…"

"Tyr? Can I ask you a question?"

"Yes?"

"Why me?"

Tyr seemed a little surprised, but the surprise quickly gave way to a gentle smile. He chuckled. "To be honest… I saw a little of myself in you."

"Huh?"

The man chuckled. "I lost my parents too."

The pain Sherry had been holding onto threatened to boil over. "R-really?"

"Yeah. The man in that photo was my grandfather. He passed away a few years back."

"Oh…"

"So the house has been lonely. After the merge happened, there were a lot of kids of you, right?"

"Yes."

He sighed. "I'm not exactly sure how I'll be as a father, but you can always come to me if you need anything."

Sherry nodded. "Okay."

A strange look crossed his face for a moment, before he nodded. "The bathroom is upstairs to the right. Your room is a little bit further down the hall. Let me know if you need anything." He gave her another smile, although it was a bit weaker than before. "…Welcome home, Sherry."

Another nod. Tyr sighed and went upstairs into his own room. Sherry went to the bathroom as she was told. It was no problem figuring out how to work the shower, and after getting undressed, got into the shower. As the water matted her hair down to her back, she felt all the weight that was on her come crashing down.

Home.

She hadn't thought about having a home for a long time, and just the idea of having one broke the delicate balance of pain she had carried since coming to the human world.

She cried. She cried harder than when Pepper had died in her arms, harder than when she had been found in the forest after burying her brother. She cried for the first time in two months, and let the water wash away her tears. It was a few minutes later when she finally stopped, and she got out of the shower. A large t-shirt and underwear was laid out for her. "Wait… he was in here? When…" Going to the door, she peeked out into the hallway and looked both ways. There was nothing. She dried off and got dressed, heading for the room Tyr had told her about. She was at the door when she heard his voice.

"Your eyes look terrible." She whirled around, finding the man looked down at her from his spot against the wall. She rubbed at her eyes.

"It's no big deal," She said quietly, turning away. Before she could move away, she felt a hand rest itself on her head and gently rub it.

"You're a terrible liar, Sherry," He told her.

The way he said her name… all that gentleness and kindness… she let go. She broke down into tears, sobbing loudly as she dropped to her knees. Tyr backed off a step in surprise. She had only been here half an hour, and somehow he had managed to make her cry. He followed his first instinct and knelt down behind her, wrapping his arms around her as comfortingly as he could. It was times like these he appreciated having little sisters. He gently stroked her hair in the most comforting manner he could. "Hey, it's okay. It's okay. You're not alone anymore, right?"

That was right.

Sherry turned in his embrace, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him as tightly as she could, face buried into his chest. Tyr kept stroking her hair, holding her tightly, but not tight enough to hurt her. "You're not alone anymore, love," Tyr said quietly.

Sherry then realized that was true. She didn't have to carry all her pain alone anymore. Someone was willing to care for her, to listen to her, and be there for her. It didn't erase all that pain, but it did help alleviate some of it. "Thank you," She said, smiling for the first time in a very long time.

That night, Sherry curled up beside Tyr in his bed, unable to fall asleep in her own. His presence was the only thing that could comfort her at this point. Once she woke up, she would say she had slept better that night than she had in her entire life.


End file.
